Historic cemeteries
are usually associated with bereavement or gothic horror.
However, today
Victorian cemeteries across the UK are being revived as places for local
communities to relax, unwind and enjoy the natural environment, thanks to
National Lottery investment.
The investment has
helped revive mausoleums, chapels, tombs, graves and the biodiversity of
historic cemeteries across the UK, creating places for local communities to
relax, unwind and enjoy nature.
New grants totalling
£6.2million has helped Sheffield General Cemetery Park; Belfast City Cemetery;
and Sir Joseph Paxton’s London Road Cemetery, Coventry.
Brompton Cemetery,
which is one of London’s ‘Magnificent Seven’, will be the first to reopen in
July, following National Lottery investment.
Sheffield General
Cemetery Park; Belfast City Cemetery; and London Road Cemetery, Coventry have
been awarded more than £6.2m of National Lottery cash to be revived and
restored for the benefit of their local communities.
The improvements
will see historic layouts reinstated; mausoleums, chapels, tombs, graves and
sculptures will be restored; the past and present traditions of death and
bereavement will be better understood by new visitors; and native wildlife and
habitats will be protected and encouraged thorough planting and better
horticultural management. The result will be three welcoming greenspaces that
will not only benefit local communities but local wildlife.
These – and four
other cemeteries that have received money from HLF and the Big Lottery Fund -
take the total joint National Lottery investment in historic cemeteries
to £15.1m.
The news comes as
the Grade I registered Brompton Cemetery, one of London’s Victorian
‘Magnificent Seven’, reopened this week.
It is the first
joint National Lottery-funded cemetery project to open following a £6.2m
restoration and conservation project. The project has revealed the cemetery’s
architectural splendour; uncovered hidden heritage gems; preserved the historic
landscape and created a wildlife haven for communities in a densely-populated
part of the capital.
